Celebrating 25 Years of Scoop
2010 Global Temperatures 'near record levels' - WMO
3 December 2010
The World Meteorological Organization
released its draft annual statement on the status of global
climate today at UN climate talks (COP16) in
Cancun.
The statement details extreme weather
trends around the globe in the past year, and says
that 2010 is set to be among the warmest three years since
instrumental recordings began in 1850, with 2001-2010 being
the warmest decade on record.
Of particular relevance to New Zealand is the description of this year's rapid shift from El Niño to La Niña conditions, and indications that this is the strongest La Niña witnessed in over thirty years.
Local and overseas expert reaction to the climate and temperature statements released today by the WMO are below. Further comments will be added to the Science Media Centre website.
Dr Jim Salinger, Honorary Research Fellow at University of Auckland comments:
"The climate observations are very clear: the warming of the planet continues during decade 2000 and beyond with continued shrinking of Arctic sea ice, and mountain glaciers. Political commitment to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere substantially is long overdue if very significant warming of the globe is to be prevented by 2100. The planet has spoken."
Dr James Renwick, Principal Scientist, Climate Variability & Change, NIWA comments:
"The statistics just out from WMO demonstrate that the globe continues to warm, despite some regional and seasonal cold spells. The years 2010, 2005, and 1998 will rank as the three warmest years on record in the global average, and 2001-2010 the warmest decade on record. Consistent with this, the oceans continue to warm and seas levels to rise, Arctic sea ice continues to disappear (especially multi-year ice) and glaciers and ice sheets continue to recede world-wide. There are significant real risks of major negative impacts for human society over the course of this century.
"After a small downturn in 2009, greenhouse gas emissions have bounced back in 2010 , continuing the upwards trend seen in the last decade. The extra carbon dioxide will be in the atmosphere for centuries, and sea levels look set to keep rising for a thousand years or more. The sooner the global community seriously tackles this issue, the better. Let's hope Cancun delivers a positive outcome."
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Below are comments gathered by the Science Media Centre in London:
Dr Chris Huntingford of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said:
"There are multiple independent research groups from around the world, all analysing the likely effect of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There is broad agreement that the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming, and so the general higher temperatures being reported are consistent with this.
"There is absolutely no intention of scaremongering, but if this warming continues, then we can expect major alterations to our weather and including adjusted patterns of rainfall. Some of these changes might be particularly unwelcome, threatening both food and water security.
"The challenge to researchers is to make ever more detailed regional predictions of exactly how climate change will manifest itself. This knowledge can inform the spending of funds set aside to help society adapt to a changing climate."
Prof Mark Maslin, Director of the Environment Institute at UCL, said:
"Those who hoped that global warming would just go away will be disappointed by today's announcements. Temperature records show that 2010 will be one of the warmest years ever recorded, adding to the huge weight of evidence accumulated by dedicated scientists over the last two decades showing climate change is real. It shows that the science underpinning the negotiations at Cancun is correct and adds further weight to the need for a globally negotiated and accepted deal on carbon emissions."
Professor James Crabbe, Professor of Biochemistry at the University Of Bedfordshire, said: "The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report today on the state of the climate in 2010 gives little Christmas cheer for coral reefs, the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. The tropical North Atlantic was especially warm with temperatures at record levels over most of the area east of longitude 55°W. This comes after a previous record year in 2005, where raised ocean temperatures resulted in severe damage to reefs throughout the Caribbean.
The work of many scientists who monitored the event has just been published in a prestigious open access journal (1). Our fears that that 2010 was shaping up to be even worse (2) have been vindicated by the WMO report. This year coral bleaching has been observed in every ocean and major sea in which coral occurs, from the Persian Gulf to southeast Asia, the Central Pacific to the Caribbean - only the second time this has happened (the first time was in 1998). Bleaching results in the loss of the symbiotic algal cells which are essential for their photosynthesis, without which the corals ultimately can die.
"This has serious implications for the many populations - c. 1 billion people - who live near coral reefs, and rely on them for their livelihoods and nutrition It also has major implications for those who do not live near reefs, for many social and biological reasons. We need to develop mechanisms for mitigation of carbon dioxide levels at the Cancun meeting that will result in minimising the temperature increase, so that at least some coral ecosystems will be able to survive in the future."
ENDS
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